A crippling blizzard has brought life virtually to a standstill in parts of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Snowfall from 1 to 4 feet, driven by wind gusts from 20 to 50 mph, have lead to whiteout conditions, at times. ... Large stretches of I-25, I-40, and I-70 were shutdown, and numerous other U.S. and state roads were closed.

For Albuquerque, this was truly an historic snowstorm. As of Saturday afternoon, over 15" of snow had fallen at the "Sunport". Over 11" had fallen just on Friday alone, setting a new all-time calendar-day snowfall record. The average yearly snowfall in the city is only 12". By the time the snow finally winds down Saturday evening, this two-day snowfall event may push the all-time heaviest snowstorm on record in Albuquerque.

Or in other words, since I am currently stuck in Albuquerque, I may not be back in St. Louis by New Year's. ;) My car is currently in the middle of a snowdrift, with snow up to the headlights level, and the rest of the road is impassable except for four-wheel drives (Albuquerque isn't known for maintaining a large fleet of snow plows).

Right now I'm glued to the weather reports, basically debating whether or not I should wait for I-40 to re-open, or whether I should head south to I-10 via El Paso ...

Happy Holidays to everyone,

Elonka :)

Record-breaking snowstorm in New Mexico